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Computer Scam: Seven from Ramapo plead guilty, face prison and thousands in fines

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Photo: John Meore/The Journal News

“Nearly four years after hundreds of FBI agents and law enforcement officers raided Ramapo businesses and private schools, seven Rockland residents have pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal million of dollars from a federal program designed to provide computer technology to schools.

Prosecutors got guilty pleas to conspiracy from Peretz Klein and his wife Susan Klein, both of Spring Valley; and five Monsey residents, Simon Goldbrenner, Moshe Schwartz, Ben Klein, Sholem Steinberg and Aron Melber. [Read more…]

Ramapo tech scam: Monsey businessman once cited as a NYC slumlord

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Peretz Klein photographed during the 2016 FBI raid

Peretz Klein during 2016 FBI raid Photo/The Journal News

“A Monsey businessman charged in a $14 million scheme to rip off a federal program to provide computers to yeshivas was once cited as a New York City slumlord.

Peretz Klein, who ran the Bridgestone Group LLC, in 2012 and 2013 faced 144 infractions of the New York City health code for a 46-unit apartment building at 1645 Grand Ave. in the Bronx, according to the New York City Public Advocate’s Office.

The company is no longer listed on the office’s “NYC Worst Landlord Watchlist” for 2017. The company’s corporate address is Klein’s home at 44 Ellish Parkway. [Read more…]

FBI arrests bus company owner Richard Brega

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Shield of the Dept of Justice

The owner of a Clarkstown transportation company who runs the Rockland County bus system was arrested Thursday morning on federal charges for allegedly taking payments for work on Rockland BOCES vehicles that was never done.

Richard Brega, 49, allegedly paid bribes to BOCES Transportation Director William Popkave and falsified documentation to indicate his company, Brega D.O.T. Maintenance Corp., had repaired and maintained school vehicles, prosecutors said in a news release announcing the five-count indictment.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the pair schemed to defraud BOCES then “tried to cover their tracks through fake invoices and deceptive money transactions.” [Read more…]

Since yeshiva raids in Ramapo, FBI school probe lingers

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FBI agents removing files and computers in Monsey

FBI Ramapo Education Technology Raids in March 2016 The Journal News

“On an unusually warm day in March, dozens of FBI agents and other law enforcement officers raided two dozen yeshivas and businesses that had tapped into a multi-million dollar federal program for financing computers and related technology at educational institutions.

More than 300 agents and officers descended on the ultra-Orthodox private schools and companies, seizing payment records, equipment and other documents as part of an investigation on whether the federal money had been misused. The agents hit additional religious schools in Orange County ultra-Orthodox community of Kiryas Joel and made at least one stop the same day in Brooklyn.

The FBI-led raids, which involved more than 22 separate search warrants in Ramapo, also included detectives with the Rockland District Attorney’s Office and local police departments. [Read more…]

St. Lawrence corruption trial delayed until April

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Shield of the Dept of Justice

“The anticipated federal corruption trial against Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and a former top economic development aide has been rescheduled for April, with the judge promising no more delays, court documents say.

St. Lawrence, a Democrat and the town’s 16-year supervisor, and former deputy town attorney Aaron Troodler face charges of securities and wire fraud and conspiracy involving the financing of the town’s baseball stadium and other projects developed through the Ramapo Local Development Corp. Troodler served as the quasi-government’s executive director, while St. Lawrence chaired the agency’s three-member board. [Read more…]

Imprisoned Noramie Jasmin loses appeal of bribe-taking conviction

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Photo Ricky Flores/The Journal News

Photo Ricky Flores/The Journal News

Former Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin is staying in prison after a federal appeals court denied an appeal of her bribe-taking conviction in April 2015.

Jasmin, a Democrat-elected Spring Valley official for more than a decade and mayor from 2008 to 2013, is serving a four-year sentence that started in February 2016 for corruption after selling her vote on a proposed community center and catering hall. [Read more…]

Federal court approves seizure of pensions of crooked politicians

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Rockland County Times banner

Story by Joel Grossbarth posted in the Rockland County Times August 24, 2016

(The four Ramapo defendants facing federal charges have more to look forward to than fines, sanctions and prison time.)

A Federal Appeals Court has upheld the tactic of pension forfeiture in the fight against political corruption. [Read more…]

St. Lawrence, Troodler get Jan. 9 trial date on corruption charges

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Defense motions are due by Sept. 12, with the prosecution scheduled to respond by Sept. 25.

A federal judge on Thursday set a Jan. 9 trial date in the corruption case against Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence and former town lawyer Aaron Troodler.

Prosecutors estimated they would need to call more than 30 witnesses and the trial could take four to five weeks to complete. Attorneys for St. Lawrence and Troodler didn’t comment on those estimates. [Read more…]

How Ramapo N.Y. and its attorney are disputing SEC fraud charges

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Seal of the US SEC

This article by Jack Casey was posted by The Bond Buyer today:

WASHINGTON – The town of Ramapo, N.Y. and one of four individuals charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading muni bond investors are disputing the charges and urging a federal judge to dismiss the case.

They are asking for a jury trial if the judge fails to dismiss the SEC’s complaint.

Ramapo and town attorney Michael Klein detailed their defenses in recently filed separate answers to the SEC’s April 14 complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. [Read more…]

Christopher St. Lawrence due in Federal Court today

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Photo of St. Lawrence listening to public remarks

The indicted Ramapo Supervisor, Christopher St. Lawrence, will be in the United States District Court in White Plains this afternoon to appear before Judge Cathy Seibel.

St. Lawrence and Aaron Troodler, the executive director of St. Lawrence’s Ramapo Local Development Corporation (RLDC), are each charged with 8 counts of securities fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; 13 counts of wire fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison; and one count of conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison. [Read more…]